High Cliff Triathlon - Half Iron Course - Triathlon1/2 Ironman


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Sherwood, Wisconsin
United States
Midwest Sports Events
72F / 22C
Overcast
Total Time = 6h 54m 39s
Overall Rank = 395/441
Age Group = 45-49
Age Group Rank = 14/15
Pre-race routine:

Kelly with us this year. Got on the road an hour late as Kelly had to pick up her bike at W&S at 10. By the time we got everything loaded up it was 11:30. Stopped at the Taco Bell in Oshkosh on the way up, got my usual and had a Fiber One bar. Tried to check in at the hotel at 1:30 but room not ready yet, so drove to expo. Got our race packets, went for a 5-mile ride around the park to point out some stuff to Kelly, climbed the tower. Checked out the water...cold, 64. Steve and Kelly put their feet in--not interested, will wait till tomorrow! Went back to the hotel, checked in. Room 2242. Brought our stuff up and had a beer, but by now it was 5:00 so we walked over to Victoria's for dinner. Had my usual Pasquale, which was now taken off the menu, but they made it anyway. After dinner walked over to Walgreen's to buy Melatonin since I forgot mine--Kelly and I got "readers" on sale too--first pair for both of us! Brought the rest of the stuff from the Pilot in to the room then went to Copps to get food for breakfast. Back to the room to organize everything for the morning. Had another Fiber One bar. Realized I packed my short tri shorts instead of my usual ones--bummer. Went to sleep around 10:15.
Event warmup:

Woke to pee around 1:30 and again at 3:30 I think. Fell back asleep both times. Steve and I had beds and Kelly was on her cot. Had wake up call at 4:30, ate my Kashi granola bar with PB, a yoplait regular yogurt, and a banana w PB. Had bathroom success and had to deal w girl business too. Brought all our stuff down to the truck, got on the road at 5:50...later than we had planned with such an early wake up time. Fortunately, though, we got a spot in the park, real close to transition (Steve had bought the park pass the day before), so that saved us a ton of time. Hit the metro's right away before the lines to too long. Had just enough time to get transition set up and got down to the water at 6:40 so I could go in and get used to the cold. Peed then which warmed me up! Steve and I were wave 3, Kelly was wave 6.
Swim
  • 48m 45s
  • 2112 yards
  • 02m 19s / 100 yards
Comments:

No neck rash this year--made sure the pull tie was off to the side. Index fingers on both hands went numb--just can't figure out if that's a cold water or a wetsuit thing! Otherwise no major issues.
What would you do differently?:

Well, as always, swim some time between Moo and this event. Janel was kind enough to watch Drew for me while I swam 36 laps at the Hoyt Park pool last week--that at least let me remember what my stroke is!
Transition 1
  • 03m 22s
Comments:

Now this surprised me. I felt like I was taking forever in transition. Did a squirt of sunscreen to the top of back/neck even tho it was overcast, and still put some BodyGlide on my feet. Had a nice empty bladder, so skipped that. Was 15 sec faster than last year.
What would you do differently?:

Be brave enough with my new feet to not use the body glide. Didn't realize the hill and wetsuit strippers were actually part of the swim time. T1 doesn't start till you get to the bike racks.
Bike
  • 3h 27m 17s
  • 56 miles
  • 16.21 mile/hr
Comments:

Didn't eat or drink for the first 15 miles other than a few tiny sips of water. Drank about an ounce of HammerGel and water at 15, then started sipping on water and Gatorade every so often. Not terribly hot, in fact had my arm warmers on till about mile 30, then put them on the handlebars. At the halfway point, had a little table salt. Mile 30 was another oz of HammerGel and again at Mile 45. Few sips of water after that was it. Stomach felt good. Figured I'd be a lot slower than last year since I didn't really get any long rides in--just an hour max here and there but was only 5 minutes slower.
What would you do differently?:

Well, ride more, of course! Needed to get some long rides in but life got in the way.
Transition 2
  • 04m 38s
Comments:

Can't believe I was actually 3 seconds faster this year! Found the Metro in transition a row over, but this chick got in right before I got to it. Had to wait a couple of minutes for her. Guy gets in line behind me. I had to pee so bad--took me forever to empty my bladder! Also had to deal with girl issues. Guy bit my head off when I came out--like I really wanted to be in there that long myself?? He coulda just peed on the side of the metro!
What would you do differently?:

Not much, had to pee and that takes time. Glad I had my shot blox set out so I remembered to grab those, and already had the Gu in my race belt.
Run
  • 2h 30m 35s
  • 13.1 miles
  • 11m 29s  min/mile
Comments:

Did well on nutrition, don't think it was a salt or nutrition issue, just undertrained. This was the first year I didn't do Green Bay the month before--haven't done anything over 6.5 since March I think? Knew my running would be bad, but I screwed myself when I took the first loop at my usual pace. Here is my demise:
Mile 1: 11:18 walked up the steep parts of hill
Mile 2: 10:17
Mile 3: 10:06
Mile 4; 10:28
Mile 5: 9:54
Mile 6: 9:34
Mile 7: 11:26 had more walking as I ate the Gu
Mile 8: 11:54
Mile 9: 11:02
Mile 10: 13:03
Mile 11: 12:54
Mile 12: 13:24
Mile 13.1: 15:07 wow--didn't realize I had slowed down that much!
What would you do differently?:

Do some long runs. Had no time to train so no runs over my 6.5 mile loop. Missed the GB marathon too, which had always helped. Plus I had my new feet, and am wearing Saucony Guide 6 instead of the Newton's I had last year. Feet were dying. Passed quite a few people despite this, but not what I normally do.
Post race
Warm down:

Felt like shit. Was cold, and the wind wasn't helping. Really wanted to soak my legs in the lake, but I was chilled and just wanted to put on warm clothes. I had my long sleeve shirt and sweatpants from the morning in transition, but was still chilled. Nauseated, so didn't want to try to eat. Had some Coke, but that didn't' seem to do much. Steve found me in transition and helped me bring my bike and bags to the car. Had to lay down w me feet up just like after Moo. Put on my finisher's jacket but was still cold, so lay down in the back seat of the truck w my feet up while waiting for Kelly. At just a few minutes before the time cut-off, Steve got all her stuff out of transition and rode her bike up the hill. Found her! She made the cutoff with 2 mins to spare! Walked over to the finish line to get her then came back to the truck. Never did eat anything there so was getting really hungry for 'real food'. Stopped at Taco Bell in Fond du Lac--went in to eat and use the bathroom. Tasted great and helped a lot. Got an ice cream from McDonald's too. Stopped at Steve's so I could get my car then to Roy's to pick up Drew--got there around 6:20.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Definitely lack of training and NO long runs. I've gone 13.1 a couple of times since my foot surgery, but the last time was back in March. My new feet definitely were not ready for all of this. Next day I still have foot pain to the lateral aspect of both feet and what feels like a knot at the ball of the L 5th toe. I think I was running too cautiously on the trails trying to protect my big toes. Quads quite sore too. Hopefully this will all settle quickly so I can get some miles in before Racine.

Event comments:

I love this race even though I don't like to run on trails. There were mile markers on every single mile of the bike and run which is incredible! Always well-organized. Great it's on a Saturday too, I needed Sunday to recover before going back to work on Monday!




Last updated: 2013-06-16 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:48:45 | 2112 yards | 02m 19s / 100yards
Age Group: 9/15
Overall: 0/441
Performance: Average
Suit: Vortex Full
Course: Water was very wavy, strong waves, hard to get a rhythm and had to sight more since sometimes you couldn't see the buoys when you looked up at a wave. Drank a fair amount of water but no major choking episodes. People pretty well-spaced too, not a lot of bumping. Sighting was really hard for me--at one point I realized I was going 90 degrees off course! Not sure how that happened! Needless to say, my swim was 3 minutes slower this year, which I think is great as Steve was a full 10 mins slower. Am getting much better at peeing on the go--went 3x and didn't have to tread water to get it going (that's probably where I saved a bunch of time).
Start type: Run Plus: Waves
Water temp: 64F / 18C Current: High
200M Perf. Remainder:
Breathing: Drafting:
Waves: Navigation:
Rounding:
T1
Time: 03:22
Performance: Good
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
Wetsuit stuck? Run with bike:
Jump on bike:
Getting up to speed:
Biking
03:27:17 | 56 miles | 16.21 mile/hr
Age Group: 12/15
Overall: 0/441
Performance: Average
Wind: Some
Course: Usual headwind going South. Missed the rain that Steve got on the bike. Ground was wet when I got there but rain was done. Didn't push too hard on that leg or with the turn to the East as that was a bad wind too. Made good time going north and West. Nice course, few rollers but nothing major. Don't even know that I went into my small chainring. Ground was wet after mile 10 but not soaked--no issues with it.
Road: Smooth Wet Cadence:
Turns: Cornering:
Gear changes: Hills:
Race pace: Comfortable Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 04:38
Overall: Good
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike
Running with bike
Racking bike
Shoe and helmet removal
Running
02:30:35 | 13.1 miles | 11m 29s  min/mile
Age Group: 11/15
Overall: 0/441
Performance: Below average
Course: Trail running. Must say, no major ankle twists this year! I think I was running very carefully to protect my feet. Didn't take fluids at mile 1, waited till that shelter station around mile 1.5 to take some water. Popped in a shot blox too. Got behind a guy (bib 430) who had a good pace and just stayed on his heels for the first couple of miles. Lost him at the 4-mile aid station, but then he was behind me, on my heels. Had a 2nd shot blox around mile 4, and kept picking up the pace w him behind me and felt pretty good. When I got to the downhill parts though, I had him pass me so I could go down slowly. Legs starting to get stiff. Took water at mile 6.5, then had the Gu at the mile 7 shelter. Legs getting tighter and hamstrings crampy. Around mile 9 realized I had salt, and had a bit of that, but no water till mile 9.5. Another shot blox then too. Feet hurting a lot--mainly crampy, and legs getting worse. Slowed to an IM shuffle, which was a 13:30 pace but it was all I could do those last few miles. Just kept shuffling--didn't give in to walking! Was actually a full 15 min slower than last year. Shouldn't have gone so hard on the first loop--I felt good and 430 was pushing but I shouldn't have gone with it. The downhill in was horrible--killed my toes--left big toe tip was a burning searing stabbing pain, and legs were spent. Just shuffled my way in to the finish line!
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Average
Mental exertion [1-5] 5
Physical exertion [1-5] 4
Good race? Ok
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities:
Race evaluation [1-5] 5